Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  19 17.  ■> 
Book  Reviews . 
91 
macy  and  Therapeutics,"  yet  anyone  who  is  conversant  with  the 
previous  editions  and  the  advances  of  science  soon  finds  on  com- 
parison that  this  is  far  from  the  case.  In  the  present  work  it  is 
stated  that  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  is  "here  embodied  as 
a  whole/'  but  even  this  is  far  from  the  truth.  This  opens  up  an 
entirely  new  question  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  text  of  the  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia  and  as  to  whether  when  permission  is  granted 
to  publishers  to  use  this  text,  it  should  not  be  insisted  that  it  be  used 
in  its  entirey.  This  is  hardly  the  place  in  a  review  of  a  work  like 
this  to  discuss  such  questions  even  though  they  are  prompted  by  the 
opportunity  for  review. 
The  authors'  preface  probably  gives  the  best  idea  of  the  promi- 
nent features  of  the  work  which  they  have  written.  In  the  present 
volume  it  is  stated  that  "the  complete  Pure  Food  and  Drugs  Act 
and  Regulations,  as  well  as  the  Harrison  Narcotic  Law,  have  been 
appended,  together  with  the  official  decisions  necessary  to  their  inter- 
pretation. This  is  a  very  valuable  addition,  as  it  contains  many  of 
the  F.  I.  D.  decisions  relating  to  the  regulations  concerning  the 
labelling  and  marketing  of  medicinal  and  other  products.  The 
pharmacist  should  have  this  information  at  his  command,  and  while 
the  decisions  can  be  obtained  from  the  government  for  the  mere 
asking,  it  is  very  likely  that  the  separate  decisions  are  likely  to  be 
mislaid  when  required  for  use.  Outside  of  very  slight  changes,  the 
preface  of  the  present  edition  is  almost  the  preface  of  the  earlier 
editions  verbatim.  It  is  true  that  there  are  some  changes  in  the  text 
and  it  may  be  that  any  number  of  causes  have  prevented  a  more 
complete  revision  being  made.  The  statement  is  made  in  the  preface 
that  "  at  least  200  new  articles  have  been  introduced."  Most  of 
these  probably  relate  to  the  drugs  in  the  National  Formulary,  but 
even  these  are  far  from  being  complete. 
In  conclusion,  the  reviewer  should  say  this,  that  the  information 
which  is  given,  even  though  incomplete,  may  be  relied  upon  as  being 
more  or  less  accurate.  The  editors  and  collaborators  are  all  men 
of  eminence  and  prominence  in  their  respective  professions. 
H.  K. 
